The present invention generally relates to portable electronic devices, and, more particularly, to portable electronic devices having a physically closed configuration in which a display and/or physical human interface is accessible by a user.
Portable computing devices, such as laptops and/or tablets, can be closed when not in use (a lid-closed state), to turn the devices off or place them in a lower power state (i.e., sleep, standby). When in the lid-closed state, the display and keyboard of the device are not accessible by a user.
To enable access to a laptop in the lid-closed state, some conventional systems are equipped with voice recognition software that is enabled in the lid-closed state. In such conventional systems, even if the system is in a sleep state, “wake on voice” technology, using an audio digital signal processor (DSP), can wake the system with a voice trigger. Voice commands of the user can then be processed by the system for particular applications. For example, while the laptop is in the lid-closed state, the user can wake the laptop with a voice trigger, and then ask it “What's the schedule today?” The laptop can then access calendar entries for the present day and give an audio response.
While such voice access technology can provide a needed and convenient service to a user, current approaches are not without drawbacks.
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing conventional voice recognition operations for laptop computer. FIG. 16 shows a conventional laptop computer 1601 with wake on voice technology. Upon receiving a voice trigger and request 1603, conventional laptop computer 1601 can wake from a sleep state and attempt to execute the request. However, an operating system installed on the conventional laptop computer 1601 can have privacy protections for private data stored on the device. Thus, if a user request requires the use of protected private data, the conventional laptop computer 1601 may prevent the request and notify the user that permissions must first be enabled 1605 in order for the request to be processed.
Referring still to FIG. 16, an operating system of conventional laptop computer 1601 can enable a user to set private data permissions for voice access via a lock screen 1607. However, once such permissions are enabled, private data on the conventional laptop computer 1601 is accessible via a user voice. This lessens the security of the private data and can even result in the inadvertent disclosure of private data by unintended speech or sounds.
As can be seen, there is a need for apparatus and methods to provide means for accessing the functions of a closed device, while at the same time ensuring private data on the device remains secure.